Sacred Heart School

Week of Nov 8

Sacred Heart School

Week of Nov 8

Conference On.

One of my favorite things to do is to go back and look at last year's s'more to see where we were at this point in the year! Turns out, we were in the same place! I find these tips to still be useful - so I'm going to copy them one more time!

From November 2014:

It's every teacher's favorite time of year! Parent teacher conference time! I used to have a lot of anxiety before conferences because I never knew how they would go. Turns out, they're always better than you think. It's important to keep in mind that we all want the same thing, we all want the children to be successful.

Here are a few tips to make sure your conferences go well:

Two-Way Conversations - The parent-teacher conference is not only an opportunity for parents to learn from you, but for you to learn from them. Nobody knows your students better than their families. Their insights into their child's strengths and needs, learning styles, and nonschool learning opportunities can help you improve your instructional methods. Your efforts to better understand their aspirations and perspectives make parents feel respected and build trust with them.

Emphasis on Learning-You can make the most of parent-teacher conferences and other forms of family involvement by "linking them to learning." This means bringing events and communication back to a discussion of strategies to support student learning. You can arm parents with knowledge and suggestions for how to help their children learn.

Opportunities and Challenges - We all need praise and constructive criticism to grow. All parents are proud of their children and need to hear about their strengths as well as their challenges from you. This helps parents show that you value the unique strengths of their children and have high expectations for their ability to succeed in school and life.